Wednesday, October 14, 2009
Congress / Politics / Woods Bredesen Jacks Up Health Care Cost to $3B
Posted by Jeff Woods on Wed, Oct 14, 2009 at 8:24 AM
"I worry if we make it completely free to the states, and the feds pay 100%, that would void the federal/state partnership. It would no longer be a partnership. It would be a federal program."Bredesen, meanwhile, was running around the stage screaming about the sky falling. Remember the $735 million "best estimate" his administration previously has cited as the extra cost to the state? Well, now that figure has mushroomed to $3 billion. Oh no!
The $735 million would stretch over five years, but "in addition, there are huge unknowns for the states in this reform," Gov. Bredesen said, estimating that those costs, if realized, could exceed another $3 billion from 2014 to 2019. The governor's comments, made during a health care forum at Belmont University, came hours before the U.S. Senate Finance Committee approved a $829 billion health care overhaul sponsored by Sen. Max Baucus, D-Mont. The plan relies in part on state Medicaid programs such as TennCare to extend health insurance coverage to millions. "I'm glad they're trying to do it without increasing the federal deficit, that certainly is important," said Gov. Bredesen, a Democrat who has been critical of the plan's impact on states. "But to turn around and increase the state deficits as the way to handle it that does not seem a very appropriate way to do that."Or Tennessee could adopt a fair tax system that raises enough money to adequately fund the basic needs of its citizens. Oh wait, what am I thinking? It's much easier to complain about unfunded federal mandates.
Comments (6)
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Bredesen's comments are completely responsible for the chief executive of a state.
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"Here's a novel idea: Maybe state governments should share a little of the cost of the expansion of Medicaid to help achieve universal health care coverage"
Here's an even more novel idea: admit that Medicare is an abject failure and quite trying to double down on it.
Gilbert...Medicare recipients would generally disagree with you that the program is an abject failure.
I meant to day Medicaid instead of Medicare - but both of them are in the same failure boat so it works just as well.
And yes it's no surprise that people who are getting free stuff at other people's expense really like that arrangment but that is no metric of success.
Most Medicare recipients pay a monthly premium for basic coverage plus an additional premium for gap or advantage plans. The premiums are reset every year by, what I would assume, are standard pricing models to cover costs, etc.
